Who was cooler, Jack Johnson or Muhammad Ali?

I guess being the first black champion qualifies Johnson as a civil rights icon.
For that matter, ANY black american champion of the Jim Crow era could be viewed as a civil rights icon. They were all knocking down the door.

I've argued before with McGrain and others that Ali wasn't a civil rights activist at all (few followers of Elijah Muhammad were) - and i don't wanna open that discussion up again - but civil rights ICON seems more accurate.

Ali is very much an icon.

 

Ironically, Floyd Patterson should be remembered as the 'civil rights' champion. He was an activist involved in the movement, and him and Ali hated each other's views (although that was obviously embellished to sell tickets).
Floyd's problem probably wasn't even that he was quiet, it's that he wasn't a great fighter.

Having said that, Patterson was actually a very cool guy.

 

Jack Johnson was the pimp-daddy general. Just unforgivable coolness all the way.

Ali was too much of an attention ***** to be truly cool. Plus he spawned all those loud mouthed wannabes who are most distinctly not[ cool.

As for Patterson, well I think this pic sums it up really.

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Floyd was cool. There was almost a Zen-like quality to him in interviews, and in the ring before and after a fight.

 

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Haters gonna hate